i almost forgot something about my NPR addiction...

I may be in love with Kai Ryssdal. That voice! And I finally googled him the other day and found he's a cutie.

Yeah, I know he's married.

But yet he gets me to listen to economic analysis on a daily basis...

some random notes from a scatterbrained, neglecting blogger

School is back in session. I'm slowly getting back to my self. I never feel right when school isn't in session. That's what happens when you spend your entire life in school. Be warned: those of you planning to spend your life in school.

I have returned to NPR junkie status. When I first moved to L.A. I withdrew quite a bit from news, completely frustrated with politics and the media in general. Besides, it's not like anyone is actually rewarded for being aware in this city. Plus NPR is pretty crappy here. There are two competing stations; KCRW is somehow the hip NPR station, but I can't stand it. If I turn it on, it's playing some irreverent music that will sooner or later grate my nerves. I listen to KPCC--hey, don't laugh, Tom Hanks listens to it too! They play only talk stuff. They repeat some of it too much, but I manage to navigate around it now. I've discovered a love for On the Media, which plays in the background as I type, which is the only program I know of that solely dedicates itself to analyzing all forms of media and how it presents itself. You mean someone in the media can actually get over itself for a minute to be self-reflexive?! Amazing, I know. It's damn good stuff. And perhaps, at the same time, I am getting over my distaste for the widely popular This American Life. Time will only tell if I will ever be able to stand the syncopated Ira Glass, but this week I actually like that KPCC plays the damn show twice during the weekend so I can experience David Sedaris in Paris. How I love Me Talk Pretty One Day. Sedaris apparently doesn't do any of the obvious in Paris, but sadly I will be the ultimate tourist when I visit at the end of the year.

What the hell has broken the flood gates on my blogging reservoir, you ask? It's a combination of spending hours and hours reading, doing several Sodoku puzzles at an ever-increasing pace, and taking a "Learning Style Inventory." I'm taking this one-credit teaching seminar that meets every other week through the year, and in preparation for our first class, we are supposed to take a couple of tests that evaluate how you learn. This isn't really a new thing. I did this years ago. I distinctly remember doing it in seventh grade and then having to tailor a project to the results. At any rate, this is different than any I've taken before; it doesn't include a "verbal" category, which I find odd. That would be how I would probably identify most strongly. Instead that conception is collapsed with both visual and auditory. Consequently, I scored nearly equally on visual, tactile, and auditory preference (in that rank order). Either this test is ridiculously off in how it measures or you can change your learning style over time. That may make sense. I've certainly gained a lot more knowledge and skills since I did this in seventh grade. I've strengthened my visual skills in recent years, but I hardly think that makes me predominantly visual. If you're going to remove verbal, I would rank myself as auditory, visual, and trailing big time in the tactile department. I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to using my hands. Oh yeah, don't believe me? Why is this unassembled futon still strewn all over my apartment?!

milkshake, milkshake (part deux)

What seems like long ago I pontificated on the best milkshakes to be had in Los Angeles. I may love frozen diary products, but of course I haven't tried every place. Now I feel as though I don't need to.

Lucky Devils on Hollywood Blvd. just west of Whitley in the heart of touristy Hollywood has the best milkshakes you could imagine. I've only had two, but I'm sold. I've had their chocolate cake shake and hot fudge malt. They make their own vanilla frozen custard, they make all their cakes (including the chocolate one that ended up in that shake), use really high quality chocolate and fudge, and it's all extra thick and insanely good. Since most places hover around $5 for a shake, this is a real bargain. They're $4.50 plus tax, but if you're paying that everywhere else and not getting this kind of quality, they're the deal. The hot fudge malt was incredible. It tasted like a hot fudge Sunday without the inconsistent, messy texture. They also have a famous pecan shake for you nut lovers. You can even get a beer shake, but somehow that doesn't sound appealing to me. The only thing I'd like to really try that I haven't is the root beer float since they have draft root beer.

one year and counting

Today is the one year anniversary of my move to Los Angeles. Phew. I've made it. And with my East Coastness still intact. Ha, like the ultra type A, impatient elitist could wither away so easily. Never.

ipo-ee-oh

It's about fucking time I blog about my International Pop Overthrow festival experience, don't you think? I was supposed to go to three shows, but due to the increasing pain of throbbing kidneys, I only went to one.

Let me preface this with saying I have a sort of "I always wanted to go to this thing!" thing since I heard about the festival all those years ago. Bands I loved like Splitsville were traveling out to L.A. to pop the night away. This is even where Pet Soul made its debut. So I jumped at a chance to volunteer my services as a merch lady so I could get in free. But as lazy as I am I was only willing to go to local clubs, so I picked a night at Spaceland where I was curious to see the show but didn't want to pay the cover. That was Tuesday, and Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. headlined. I was never really into Jellyfish, but I really dug its offspring (you know, like Jason Falkner, who I saw walking around Spaceland in a Wings shirt that night).

I think my favorite performance for the night was Kite Flying Society from San Diego. I just checked them out on MySpace and they're playing at The Derby on September 29. If I'm game I'll go. I've sort of been in a funk of not really caring to go to concerts lately. It just seems like a big hassle. I probably wouldn't have dragged my ass to this show if I hadn't made a commitment. But I'm glad I went.

So I know everyone wants to hear about Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. I was more excited about seeing Linus of Hollywood play bass in his band and sing backup vocals because I really like his stuff and the dude never plays live. When Roger appeared on stage in a studded jacket over a mesh t-shirt I wanted to puke. I initially thought he was shirtless, but the ringer on the tee became visible enough for me to think it was just something too seethrough. I don't know what he was thinking. It certainly would have been cooler (temperature-wise) to be shirtless. Not an attractive sight to say the least.

Then he proceeded to play a set of mostly covers. Not covers of any of his previous material, but people like Fleetwood Mac and Thomas Dolby. He played a cover of Redd Kross's "Pretty Please Me," which seemed to be really obscure to some people. He also made some comment about how he and his girlfriend (who he mentioned in several places, like he was trying to tell us he wasn't gay in that get-up) owe Jason Falkner for introducing them to "that band" (he didn't say it was Redd Kross) since they got into them late. I thought there was some association between the Jellyfish camp and Redd Kross? Oh well. They are playing Sunset Junction in a couple of weeks. I'm going to go, if only for the reason that I can't really escape the damn festival since I live at Sunset Junction.

At any rate, he played only a handful of songs from his forthcoming record and mostly covers. It seems he put a band together at the last minute so they didn't know the material. But everyone in the crowd was there to see him, you'd think he'd play some of his older stuff at the very least. He also would have sold a shitload of records if he brought them ahead of their release. If I had a nickel for everytime someone asked me about buying his CD, I'd have made some decent money at the show. But in some ways, it was a hell of a lot easier for me since he didn't have anything to sell.

The set sounded really good, of course, but I guess it wasn't what any of us were expecting.

today i did something i've never done before

It's perhaps not as dramatic as it sounds, but Ms. Leadfoot drove nearly ten miles at a rate of 25 mph. I don't understand how anyone could normally drive that slowly. But I also learned that even when you warn people that you're going slow with your flashing lights and something strapped to your roof, people are still either jerks and expect you to pick it up or flat out dumb and trail you forever before they figure out that the empty left lane allows for passing.

The funniest part had to be when the bus passed me. A bus passed me! That is something none of us ever thought was going to happen.

I bought a futon at IKEA this morning. Everything went smoothly at first. I flew through, ordered my thing, paid, and gave the order to be pulled. I went to get my car. I brought the stuff out, and then I learned that IKEA employees are happy to lift your packages and place them on the roof, but they will not assist you in tying them down. Why? Because people are litigation happy and would be all to quick to sue them if something happened on the way home. I tried to plead with the guys and say I wouldn't tell anyone, but no go. However, the guy manding the cart watch felt badly enough for me that he flagged down a nice, unassuming couple to assist me in tying the frame to the roof. With their help I was able to get it really tight. Then I was just determined to go very, very slowly. Luckily the drive was mostly flat and easy.

Getting the stuff in my apartment was another story. The mattress was relatively easy, but the frame weighs 58 pounds and the box is nearly as tall as I am. Getting into the elevator was easy compared to the dance I had to do to get it down the hallway to my apartment. I literally danced with the box. I couldn't lift it once I lost my elevated grip on it and just had to shimmy the thing in a waltz. I was dizzy and sweaty.

There's no way in hell I'm going to attempt to assemble it today. Worst comes to worst and Allie assembles it upon her arrival at the end of the month.